AFP – North Korea's defender Ji Yun-Nam (front) celebrates with a teammate after scoring a goal

WASHINGTON – North Korea's first World Cup finals goal for 44 years against five-time winners Brazil brought delight to the isolated communist nation's fans and stoked dreams of reunification with South Korea.

While their tireless team eventually went down 2-1, supporters based in both Japan and South Korea saw great credit in the performance as North Korea returned to the finals for the first time since blazing a trail in 1966.

Not long after the game ended in a chilly Johannesburg, Pyongyang's official news agency praised its team for a "fierce" fight as fans singled out star striker Jong Tae-Se -- nicknamed Asia's Wayne Rooney -- for praise.

"Even though our compatriots lost the game, the team scored a goal. I'm proud of them as a blood brother," said a 34-year-old man who works for an organisation for ethnic Koreans in Japan.

"I hope some day, the two Koreas will be united and we'll be able to play in one team together," said the man, who only wanted to be identified as Jon.

Japan, which occupied the Korean peninsula until the end of World War II, is home to almost one million ethnic Koreans, many of them children of former forced labourers. Up to 100,000 of them are believed to be loyal to Pyongyang.

One group gathered at a bar in the outskirts of Tokyo to watch the game, which kicked off just before dawn in Japan.

"We were so excited because two of the players are based here," said Paku Sun-Fui, 23, who works for an organisation for young Koreans in Japan.

Jong, who broke down in tears during his side's national anthem, and midfielder An Yong-Hak play in the J-League.

Jong holds South Korean nationality like his parents, who are descendants of immigrants from colonial Korea, but managed to obtain a North Korean passport after attending patriotic pro-Pyongyang schools in Japan.

After Brazil had gone 2-0 up, defender Ji Yun-Nam burst into their penalty area, took a header from Jong and blasted the ball past goalkeeper Julio Cesar for an 89th-minute consolation goal.

"When Jong Tae-Se got involved in the goal, we screamed," said Paku. "Although the team lost the game to Brazil, we beat them in our strong will."

The impoverished communist state received the toughest draw in this year's tournament, landing in Group G with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Undeterred, the North has been swept by World Cup fever, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper reported this week, with people glued to television sets despite a squabble over rights with a South Korean broadcaster.

For Koreans, the backdrop to the tournament has been coloured by accusations that North Korea sank a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives.

But political divisions were put aside as South Korean fans, whose own team got off to a flying start with a 2-0 victory over Greece, heaped praise on their ethnic kin in Internet postings.

"I'm shedding tears now. You fought so well," one wrote on Yahoo! Korea.

"I am so proud of you. We are all Koreans," another post read.

A third commentator suggested that a unified Korean team could easily advance to the quarter-finals and might even win the cup.

"Jong Tae-Se was so impressive today. He understands football," the posting read.

North Korea's next game is against Portugal on Monday._________________Allez les Bleus!

JOHANNESBURG – The referee who disallowed a potential game-winning goal for the United States will face an expedited performance review from FIFA and is likely to be excluded from the rest of the World Cup, according to a FIFA source.

Koman Coulibaly from Mali disallowed Maurice Edu’s 86th-minute strike that would have given the USA a 3-2 lead over Slovenia at Ellis Park and likely would have led to a thrilling comeback victory Friday. Coulibaly appeared to rule that American midfielder Michael Bradley had impeded a Slovenian defender, even though video replays showed no infringement.

Slovenia-U.S.: Winners and losers jun 18, 2010 Playing out the scenarios in Group C jun 18, 2010 FIFA’s refereeing committee will review footage from the Group C clash on Saturday to evaluate Coulibaly’s performance after several USA players complained about the way he had struggled to control a fiercely contested match.

Every World Cup match is viewed live by an on-site assessor who monitors the referee’s performance. However, in this case, a deeper assessment will take place at the earliest possible opportunity. That this is happening so quickly suggests FIFA is taking the complaints about Coulibaly seriously and is likely to leave him unassigned to referee further matches, according to the source. He could still appear as a line judge or other supporting role.

“If he is found to have made a serious mistake, especially one that affected the outcome, then he would be highly unlikely to play any further part in the tournament,” said the source, who is close to senior figures on the refereeing panel. “FIFA is determined to keep refereeing standards high and does not want high-profile mistakes.”

Coulibaly came under heavy criticism from the U.S. team and head coach Bob Bradley, but it was not just the Edu no-goal that will come under scrutiny.

Assessors also are likely to be concerned at the highly physical nature of the match. American striker Jozy Altidore was repeatedly involved in tussles with the Slovenian defense, and an ugly incident took place midway through the second half when Slovenia’s Marko Suler appeared to throw Altidore to the ground. Coulibaly issued Suler a yellow card, but the strong infraction was enough for a red card and an ejection.

FIFA chooses its referees and assistants for each game from a list of elite officials specially selected for the tournament. They are evaluated before the World Cup to ensure that they meet standards of fitness and knowledge.

Coulibaly’s mistake will only increase calls for the introduction of instant replay for controversial decisions, something FIFA has strongly resisted up to this point.

“It is up to FIFA for what they do about him,” USA star Clint Dempsey said. “But it wasn’t just the goal. They were holding and pushing and grabbing and putting themselves in there. What are you supposed to do?”

Martin Rogers is a staff writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Martin a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast._________________Allez les Bleus!

JOHANNESBURG – The referee who disallowed a potential game-winning goal for the United States will face an expedited performance review from FIFA and is likely to be excluded from the rest of the World Cup, according to a FIFA source.

Koman Coulibaly from Mali disallowed Maurice Edu’s 86th-minute strike that would have given the USA a 3-2 lead over Slovenia at Ellis Park and likely would have led to a thrilling comeback victory Friday. Coulibaly appeared to rule that American midfielder Michael Bradley had impeded a Slovenian defender, even though video replays showed no infringement.

Slovenia-U.S.: Winners and losers jun 18, 2010 Playing out the scenarios in Group C jun 18, 2010 FIFA’s refereeing committee will review footage from the Group C clash on Saturday to evaluate Coulibaly’s performance after several USA players complained about the way he had struggled to control a fiercely contested match.

Every World Cup match is viewed live by an on-site assessor who monitors the referee’s performance. However, in this case, a deeper assessment will take place at the earliest possible opportunity. That this is happening so quickly suggests FIFA is taking the complaints about Coulibaly seriously and is likely to leave him unassigned to referee further matches, according to the source. He could still appear as a line judge or other supporting role.

“If he is found to have made a serious mistake, especially one that affected the outcome, then he would be highly unlikely to play any further part in the tournament,” said the source, who is close to senior figures on the refereeing panel. “FIFA is determined to keep refereeing standards high and does not want high-profile mistakes.”

Coulibaly came under heavy criticism from the U.S. team and head coach Bob Bradley, but it was not just the Edu no-goal that will come under scrutiny.

Assessors also are likely to be concerned at the highly physical nature of the match. American striker Jozy Altidore was repeatedly involved in tussles with the Slovenian defense, and an ugly incident took place midway through the second half when Slovenia’s Marko Suler appeared to throw Altidore to the ground. Coulibaly issued Suler a yellow card, but the strong infraction was enough for a red card and an ejection.

FIFA chooses its referees and assistants for each game from a list of elite officials specially selected for the tournament. They are evaluated before the World Cup to ensure that they meet standards of fitness and knowledge.

Coulibaly’s mistake will only increase calls for the introduction of instant replay for controversial decisions, something FIFA has strongly resisted up to this point.

“It is up to FIFA for what they do about him,” USA star Clint Dempsey said. “But it wasn’t just the goal. They were holding and pushing and grabbing and putting themselves in there. What are you supposed to do?”

Martin Rogers is a staff writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Martin a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

US players are bunch of crybabies...Nothing is going to change the score. Altidore was the aggressor, holding and grabbing the Slovenian defenders all night trying desperately to catch up. Bradley and Dempsey were equally guilty but to a lesser degree. The only guy who adheres to fair play was Donovan._________________Ta đã trở "nại" , "nợi" hại gấp trăm "nần"...!

Annelka has just been booted out of the team for telling the coach "Go f*** yourself, you son of a whore". The French news are all abuzz with it.

Some of the team wonder who the "whistleblower" is, since this was in the locker room and no one but members of the team were there. But the profanity has shocked almost everybody, especially as the sports paper "L'Équipe" put the whole sentence, without omitting a word or deleting expletive, as a banner on its front page today. Even Sarkozy commented that it was "unacceptable".

The French team has already lost a lot of prestige, and this doesn't help. Even the kids put in their opinions, saying that they've lost respect for their once beloved Bleus.

There are rumors of dissenssion inside the team too. In these circumstances, it would take more than a miracle or two for the Bleus to do well in their next game on Tuesday. Staying on to the second round looks now more impossible than ever. _________________Allez les Bleus!